New study reveals: Meditation Changes Brain Structure in Eight Weeks!

Don't worry I would say this is the most common issue for most people. Myself included. I still have ADD from my childhood.

Try this. You don't have to sit there with a blank mind. That is fairly difficult. There are quite a few techniques and I'll just relay a few. For
the beginner I recommend sitting in a comfy chair or couch. Don't worry about lotus position or any of that just yet. The important thing is
relaxation.

For these examples below I will refer to this relaxation technique: Feel your breath going in and out. Relax your whole body. Imagine that with each
exhale your body grows more and more relaxed. With each exhale your body feels like it is getting heavier. Do this until your breathing
naturally slows down and becomes slow and shallow. If your mind wanders to another thought don't ignore it. Tell your own mind that you see
the issue and you will deal with it later. At the present moment you are occupied and you can deal with other issues later. If you ignore it the
issue will keep annoying you. The subconscious will calm down if you recognize it and tell it you will deal with it later. It is childlike and will
keep poking you otherwise.

1) Visualize an object. Anything you like. Concentrate on it while letting all your limbs and entire body relax. Let the object spin slowly and make
sure you imagine all the little details as it moves. You can change the colors of it also just keep focusing on that one object. Do the relaxation
technique.

2) This is a favorite of the Yoga practitioners. Focus on your breath. Just pay attention to the air coming in and out. Do not try and change your
breathing pattern it will do that by itself. Breath awareness will do most of the work for you. Many imagine that the air coming in is filled with
energy/health/vitality and the air going out is used/stale. You can imagine the breath has a certain color associated with the incoming (like glowing
blue) and with the outgoing used air (like brown). Imagine the breath coming in is energized and fills your whole body and the exhale acts like a
filter and gets rid of / exhales anything you don't want/need like pain, negative emotion, stress etc...

3) Use a guided meditation cd. These guide you through relaxation and then imagine a perfect place for your mind. You basically create a park-like
environment with lots of detail and place yourself within it. You can do this yourself also. Create the perfect place (beach/park/holiday location)
with lots of details. Feel the sand under your feet, smell the ocean air, basically make it as real as you can. This is your healing place where you
can imagine a crystal cave (like supermans den) where your body / mind / spirit get healed. Or imagine a futuristic Star Trek like device that scans
and heals you. You get the point.

reply to post by cosmicpixie
What's with the upper case and scepticism? a classic case of open mouth/closed mind. By reading as well as meditating I am exercising different parts
of the brain simultaneously. Whatever works for you. What is refreshing is that this topic has stimulated such discussion and the various
contributions and shared experiences have given people new avenues to pursue. How terrific is that.

Originally posted by Raven_Heart
You know, I would really like to make meditation a part of my daily routine, but something strange happens to me when I try to meditate...I close my
eyes and try to relax, but suddenly I start to freak out, like something in my instinct is yelling at me to open my eyes, or something really bad
could happen. It's a terrifying feeling, and it makes me more and more frustrated every time I try to meditate. Using binaural beats is out of
question, it's instant terror. Any advice from experienced meditators?

First off, I'd try doing some basic breathing exercises before actually closing your eyes. When you close your eyes to meditate (which actually is
not something you have to do) you should be closing them because you feel they should be closed, not force them too.

Think about when you're not tired but try to force yourself to sleep -- you close your eyes and it feels forced (same goes for meditation, and you
want to be relaxed).

The most basic breathing exercise is breathing in through your nose, and out through your mouth. The next thing you can do is try to relax to the
point where your eyes close, once they are closed start to meditate. It's easy to say 'start meditating' from my end, there are so many different
ways to do so. Honestly, you can meditate anyway you wish. Here is something you can try though:

Close your eyes while using the above breathing method, then picture a warmth gently touching your body and spread that warmth all over your body;
start with your toes and bring that warmth up to your head.

Your heart rate is going to decrease, breathing will ease up, and while you allow this warmth to overcome you, also relax each muscle the warmth hits
completely. Let go! Let the physical body relax, because when it is relaxed, you will be able to focus on the mind much more.

If you don't think binaural beats will work for you, try a guided meditation track (that's helped me from the very beginning of my meditation).

I've made some threads that may be helpful to some of you here are two of them:

Raven Heart, you may want to check out my binaural beat thread, it gives some information about them that you may not have read/seen before and it may
allow you to experience them without the issues you have mentioned.

People should all seek for God all the time, for man holds on to the physical as long as he can, and when the physical betrays him so deeply only then
does he look for God.

I'm a novice at meditation, so is there a particular god that you have in mind or will anyone do ?

Start with an imagined perfect observer, as an absolute objective truth and reality, and then, as you begin to make contact, call it the God of your
own experience (there is no understanding God). Whatever works!

S+F for the thread.
I began Meditation last January as part of study into the Vedic traditions, sciences,myths and legends. I changed my diet and began with the basics.
This guy explains it well

So, I-pod shuffle loaded, a single soothing mantra I began my meditation until I became familiar with it. You get to know the mantra in your head,
like those tunes you just start humming along to out of nowhere. Experienced only in passing during meditation.
I attained a complete quiet mind within the first month, switching off is my forte...ask the wife

.
Experiences in bliss so far are: MIND
Travelling forward and seeing a pair of lady's eyes looking back at me over her shoulders.
Appearing in a brilliant light that I could only just see through and at the centre of that light sat someone in meditation.
I found myself on a grassy cliff side facing the side of a mountain. A cave suddenly appeared in front of me and a old lady walked from the cave, she
spoke to me a single word.........a fault I need to address (personal).
You should not expect experiences during meditation but just meditate with the intention to make your mind quiet and still.
BODY: Unlimited feeling of energy, no fatigue, no hunger pangs, no stress. Also while turning to a vegetarian diet I thought I would lose a certain
amount of mass (muscle), in fact it is exactly the opposite, Yoga with my fitness regime has given me more definition.
Abilities I have...it's in the name......Have become very higher themed for want of a better explanation. I know things now that have never been
shown to me in a book or the internet. Which makes my signature very apt.
The most sublime image I have ever seen is the method of being, from the real start of being, to the very beginning, the states between and then to
return, beginning once more.

Who told you this ? You appear not to be heeding what you've been told

God is the ultimate creating force that must be infinite with those elements only one can exist for anything short of this description cannot be god.
This is very simple stuff the fact that you even question this is proof of your own non searching, search for yourself before you question anyone
else.

No body told me this I have experienced it, and it can only be experienced.One has to use words to point to god I simply told you not to get confused
in the wording. God has to be put into concept to transfer the idea of god to anyone else but do not hold on to the concept as being god for god
cannot be spoked of. this is what I mean. Know that any description that limits the limitless must be wrong.

If you don't understand what I am saying search for yourself, I am not going to be able to convince you of this if you have a riggid habitual mind
structure that doesn't even look for itself. As I said, you are responsible for yourself yet you are putting the responsiblity of prooving god in my
hands.

Speaking of binaural beats and stuff of that ilk. Am I the only one who absolute abhores throat 'singing'?

I download some music, go to bed and mellow out, and out of nowhere some creepy ass demonic noise starts. Wtf is that I think? I've entered some sort
of 18th dimension! Scared stiff I jump up from bed, lights on and ear phones out.... Silence and normality now... some genius new age hippy thought it
a good idea to ruin perfectly good beats with the incredibly creepy and unsettling throat 'singing' noise.

It annoys me to no end, because so many great binaural beats are destroyed by horrible sounding throat singers. And I always see the opposite on
Youtube comments. People talking up the throat singing. Argh.

This actually works. The method is really creating a beat freq with the vocal chords in a very very low tone. It vibrates from within and without.
Really sounds horrible to the bystander but if you do it yourself it's all good.

Try this in the bathroom where there is lots of tile or the shower to create a sound-wave which reflects heavily. This amplifies the sound and can
really seriously put you into an altered state. I dont use the throat singing I use (Ohm...) works great and sounds nice.

Originally posted by Raven_Heart
You know, I would really like to make meditation a part of my daily routine, but something strange happens to me when I try to meditate...I close my
eyes and try to relax, but suddenly I start to freak out, like something in my instinct is yelling at me to open my eyes, or something really bad
could happen. It's a terrifying feeling, and it makes me more and more frustrated every time I try to meditate. Using binaural beats is out of
question, it's instant terror. Any advice from experienced Originally posted by Raven_Heart

Meditation will ruin
your life. Real Meditation is Death. Once begun you can Never go back. It is the Genie in the bottle. That Terror is the Essence of Life. Destroying
that Essence Destroys Your Life. That is Exactly what the Meditators Seek.Dont Read This

that's true I guess, but not only does the brain accept anything you keep repeating, it also changes neurological connections, which can be higly
benefitial.
If a certain person has a very negative view on himself and on life in general, meditation can help to get a more positive view.. having a positive
view on yourself can change everything. If a person is always in the past with his thoughts, meditation can learn him to live in the now, which is far
more productive.

The regions in the brain which are affected by meditation, like the article in the OP states, can only bring positive change and can widen ones
persprectives... it only has benefits.
I don't see what could go wrong with that...

I've long thought myself part-autistic. Autistic people actually flush out thoughts by rapidly flashing pictures at their brains until the brain
forgets what it was repeating over and over again. I do this too to forget things and move forward, along with many other things for other mind games
with myself. This separation between mind and brain is very important to remember. There seems to be like an invisible organ that controls the brain.
And meditation is how you control the brain through that invisible organ. Of course people like me call that the soul. You call it whatever you'd
like. meditation works because the brain isn't doing anything. That's usually the time when it is altered, in a dream-like state.

I close my eyes and try to relax, but suddenly I start to freak out, like something in my instinct is yelling at me to open my eyes, or something
really bad could happen. It's a terrifying feeling, and it makes me more and more frustrated every time I try to meditate.

I haven't read through all the responses, so I am not aware if anyone has given you a satisfactory answer, but here is mine, for what it is worth.

Spiritual meditation simulates the act of dying, the process involved when the soul leaves its body for the final time. You may know this at an
unconscious level, so your reaction of terror is understandable.

In order to overcome this instinctual response of the mind, an attitude of trust and surrender would be most helpful.

The best I can suggest is that you seek a spiritual guide or teacher who can help you navigate through these internal obstacles.

Spiritual meditation simulates the act of dying, the process involved when the soul leaves its body for the final time.

This is the first I've heard of that.
I've been meditating for 15 years, and although I don't call myself an expert in certain religion or spiritual-based meditations, I have not once felt
that I was simulating death or the act of dying.
In my experience, meditation is the 'act of living', being now, in the moment... everyting in existence is in the current moment... when you die, you
leave the moment and exit this existence to enter another one.

so how is meditation a simulation of the act of dying? explain this please because right now I am strongly disagreeing with your statement and our
views are oposites

Spiritual meditation simulates the act of dying, the process involved when the soul leaves its body for the final time. You may know this at an
unconscious level, so your reaction of terror is understandable.

If you're talking about meditating toward the goal of experiencing an out-of-body experience (OBE), I would tend to agree. Meditation in itself,
however, is more of a state of embracing your being alive in the moment, and an exploration of that state.

Perhaps the person who was feeling agitated was unconsciously aware of an approaching spontaneous OBE. Some people seem naturally able to "slip
out" of their bodies when meditating, whether or not they know anything about the phenomenon.

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